Lord Davies of Oldham: It is the role of the Casino Advisory Panel, which is operating independently of government, to subject to fully scrutiny all the proposals it has received from local authorities interested in licensing one of the new casinos permitted by the Gambling Act 2005. In the case of the one regional casino licence, this has included holding a series of examinations in public into the short-listed proposals.

Lord Warner: Adult critical care (intensive care and high dependency) beds are counted, as a snapshot, twice each year, in January and July. Details of the number of open and staffed adult intensive care (IC) and high-dependency (HD) beds on 16 January 2006 and 13 July 2006 were collected from trusts in England and are presented for each strategic health authority in the table below.
	
		
			  IC Beds HD Beds 
			 SHA Jan 06 Jul 06 Jan 06 Jul-06 
			 England 1,793 1,793 1,485 1,443 
			 North East 124 124 110 110 
			 North West 275 265 225 222 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 179 182 183 165 
			 East Midlands 112 81 96 70 
			 West Midlands 183 201 197 174 
			 East of England 155 152 102 110 
			 London 420 433 301 314 
			 South East Coast 112 110 66 71 
			 South Central 102 112 74 78 
			 South West 131 133 131 129 
			 Source: Department of Health KHO3a 
			 Information on the daily cost per bed is not collected centrally

Lord Rooker: The number of meticillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus bacteraemias reported by each individual trust from 2003 to 2005 and from January to June 2006 are shown in the table below.
	
		
			 Trust 2003 2004 2005 2006 (Jan-June) 
			 Altnagelvin Hospitals 17 22 21 8 
			 Belfast City Hospital 55 47 39 17 
			 Causeway 9 9 10 7 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group 25 24 20 11 
			 Down Lisburn 12 17 7 2 
			 Green Park 5 2 3 3 
			 Mater Infirmorum Hospital 25 9 23 14 
			 Newry & Mourne 10 5 3 1 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals 42 44 49 25 
			 Sperrin Lakeland 15 16 6 6 
			 Ulster Community & Hospitals 23 34 25 19 
			 United Hospitals 46 41 37 21 
			 Northern Ireland 284 270 243 134 
			 Source: Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre Northern Ireland (CDSC (NI)) 
			 Methicillin has recently been renamed meticillin to comply with European law, which requires the use of the recommended international non-proprietary name (rINN).

Lord Rana: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many deaths in Northern Ireland can be attributed to methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA); and what steps are being taken to prevent MRSA-type infections.

Lord Alderdice: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What cost/benefit analysis was conducted to justify the conclusions and proposals contained in the recently published report The Future of Pathology Services in Northern Ireland.

Lord Rooker: In making its recommendations, the review group considered the need to provide cost-effective pathology services that would meet anticipated demands. The group examined data concerning income, expenditure and activity within pathology services, and value-for-money was one of the criteria against which the group evaluated its proposals for the configuration of services. The report recognises that delivery of the group's vision for pathology services will require changes in the way the service uses existing resources.
	The report's recommendations, which aim to ensure the sustainability of high-quality laboratory services across Northern Ireland, are currently the subject of a public consultation, which runs until 28 February 2007. Once the policy direction has been finalised, taking into account the responses to the consultation, a detailed implementation plan will be developed.

Lord Rooker: Information on the number of residential buildings built in this period is not available. The total number of houses built and the number of hostels and communal establishments built by housing associations is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 New Dwelling and Housing Association Communal Establishment Completions by Sector, 2001-02 to 2005-06 
			 Year NIHE Housing Associations—New Dwellings Private Sector—New Dwellings Total New Dwellings Housing Association Hostels Housing Association—Communal Establishments 
			 2001-02 29 1,386 12,072 13,487 11 1 
			 2002-03 2 1,026 13,387 14,415 7 0 
			 2003-04 0 560 13,951 14,511 6 3 
			 2004-05 0 828 14,940 15,768 4 1 
			 2005-06 0 782 16,628 17,410 5 7 
			 1. This table is derived from tables in the Northern Ireland Housing Statistics 2006. 
			 2. It is possible for residential accommodation, such as caretaker or other staff flats, to be included in buildings not primarily intended for residential use, such as schools, offices, factories etc. 
			 3. Residential accommodation within a building may be intended for either household or communal use; for example, hotels, boarding accommodation at schools, old people's homes, hospital wards, barracks etc. 
			 4. Accordingly, a count of the number of residential buildings does not indicate the level of accommodation available in Northern Ireland and is not monitored

Lord Triesman: Our ambassador in Tel Aviv discussed Israeli actions in the West Bank, including targeted killings, with the Israeli Government on 4 December. We have made no recent representations on behalf of the detained Palestinian Government and Legislative Council members. We support the call in the 13-14 November EU General Affairs and External Relations Council conclusions for the immediate release of Palestinian Ministers and legislators detained in Israel.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: I can confirm that the staff retirement benefits plan of Richardsons Fertilisers is a qualifying scheme for the purposes of the financial assistance scheme (FAS).
	Members within seven years of scheme pension age on 14 May 2004 will benefit from FAS topping up their pensions to around 80 per cent of their expected core pension, subject to a £12,000 cap and a £520 de minimis. Those between seven and 15 years from scheme pension age can more reasonably be expected to supplement their retirement income, and will be considered for a top-up to around 65 per cent of their expected pension if they are between seven and 11 years from scheme pension age, and 50 per cent if between 12 and 15 years. Our priority has been to get help to those facing the most urgent difficulties, who will be least able to make provision to replace their lost pensions.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Yes. The Channel Tunnel (International Arrangements) Order 2005 (S.I. No. 3207), implementing a regulation of the Channel Tunnel Intergovernmental Commission, transposes to the Channel Tunnel the principles of EU Directive 2001/14.

Lord Rooker: A police presence on sitting days of the Northern Ireland Assembly was discontinued when the Assembly was suspended in October 2002 and sittings consequently ceased. There have been ongoing communications between the Speakers and the Chief Constable about a permanent police presence in Parliament Buildings on the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Lord Rooker: While the Northern Ireland Assembly is suspended, the functions of the Assembly Commission are discharged by the Secretary of State by virtue of Paragraph 8(2) of the schedule to the Northern Ireland Act 2000. Advice on levels of security at Parliament Buildings would be provided to the Secretary of State by the Speaker and Assembly administration officials.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The announcement made on Wednesday 25 October 2006 referred to the aim identified in the Russell commission report on youth action and engagement, published in March 2005, of involving 1 million more young people in volunteering within the next five years.
	The new independent youth-led charity v, which was launched on Monday 8 May 2006, is working towards this aim. V has the lead in delivering a step change in the quality, quantity and diversity of volunteering opportunities available to young people aged 16 to 25 in England. More than 60,000 volunteering opportunities have been created since the charity's launch. Funding of £100 million has been made available to implement the Russell commission recommendations, of which £50 million is available through a match-funding scheme. Match-funding pledges from private sector funding partners has reached over £17 million.
	Any necessary Criminal Records Bureau checks, which are free for most volunteers, will be carried out by the providers of the volunteering opportunities as required by current rules and regulations.